Roy Greenslade: How the press finally got on the ball over Murray

Now Andy Murray can do no wrong. His wonderful Wimbledon victory has elevated him to a unique place in the media firmament. Indeed, Monday’s front-page headline in The Sun’s Scottish edition called him “Saint Andrew”.

That outstrips the ambitions of other newspaper editors, who called for him to be knighted. A living saint surely outranks a sir.

The clamour will die down. A sense of proportion will prevail. I agree with Stephen Glover, writing in yesterday’s Daily Mail, that a knighthood would be premature. Amid the understandable hysteria and media love-in, it is as well to remember that Murray had to put up with a great deal of ill-informed negative coverage in previous years.

A shy, self-conscious, straightforward young man was deemed to be sullen and taciturn, lacking in charm and charisma. In spite of his emergence as the best British-born tennis player in three generations, he was regularly criticised for his supposed dourness.

Triumphant: Murray switches Wimbledon whites for black tie at the Winners Ball
There was more than a touch of Scottish stereotyping in that description by English-based journalists and commentators who failed to grasp that he was trained to play tennis, not to be a glib chat-show guest. Indeed, his Scottishness was often held against him.

On the eve of Murray’s 2008 attempt to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, Daily Mirror columnist Tony Parsons explained why he would be cheering on his French opponent, claiming that “deep in my bones I believe Andy Murray is one of those characters who genuinely dislike England and the English”.

He also referred to “the lukewarm enthusiasm Murray has inspired on the former Henman Hill”, and may well have been reflecting the truth. The Scotsman newspaper also remarked at the time on the “noticeably reserved” crowd reaction to Murray’s matches “when compared with the raucous cheering afforded to previous British contenders”.

By coincidence, that year marked a turning point in Murray’s career, and was the beginning of his long, slow road towards an initially grudging English media appreciation. He was 21 and reached his first grand slam quarter-final before going on to play in the US Open final.Even so, years passed before what, on reflection, looks to have been a breakthrough moment. It wasn’t his US Open victory last year, or even his winning of Olympic gold.

The transformation occurred six months before, just after his Wimbledon final defeat by Federer. He broke down in tears — and suddenly the public, and the press, gained a greater and more sympathetic understanding of his character.

‘A shy, self-conscious, straightforward young man was deemed to be sullen and taciturn’

The villain was vulnerable after all. He was no longer a surly Scot. He was a Brit with grit who had done his best. His kudos was further enhanced by a BBC documentary, The Man Behind The Racquet, which portrayed him as a polite, likeable, if reserved, young man.

At last, the media image was changing. But nothing succeeds like success. So Sunday’s victory, which places him on a sporting plinth for all time, has totally altered perceptions. He handled the post-match interview with aplomb, even managing to answer the inevitable, inane question about how he felt when he won. What do these sports interviewers expect people to say? In the past couple of days, Murray has become media property, and conducted himself well. There was a joky Radio 4 Today interview and an amusing breakfast TV exchange with Holly Willoughby. He even turned up on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, where I’m afraid he looked way out of his comfort zone.

But I don’t think Murray has changed down the years. It is the media that has changed its mind about him. Journalists got it wrong — he wasn’t sour and moody. He just wasn’t media-savvy.

Mind you, even the most experienced media hands can screw up sometimes. Step forward John Inverdale, one of the BBC’s most relaxed, entertaining and knowledgeable of sports presenters.

His comment about the Wimbledon ladies’ singles winner, Marion Bartoli, was a disgraceful piece of sexism. But he apologised swiftly, and the calls to fire him were misguided. Perhaps he should take media lessons from Andy Murray instead.

Roy Greenslade is Professor of Journalism, City University London, and writes a blog for the Guardian